On the last day of early voting for the 2024 General Election, the dispute between top V.I. election officials advanced toward a possible court hearing. A civil lawsuit filed by Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes seeks to prevent the board from overturning a prior decision about a candidate’s eligibility.
The candidate in question is Ida Smith, a contender for the seat of Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett. Fawkes had ruled Smith was ineligible to run in the delegate’s race, but on Sept. 5, 10 members of the 14-member board voted to place Smith on the ballot.
A win in court for the supervisor would result in a temporary restraining order and affirm the statutory authority granted to the supervisor of Elections. Fawkes filed suit in Superior Court on Oct. 17, citing 18 V.I.C., subsection 411(b), which states, “If the Supervisor determines that a candidate for election or nomination does not meet the qualifications established by law for the office, then he shall disqualify such candidate and delete the candidate’s name from the ballot if the ballots have not been printed.”
The supervisor is granted authority by law to make the determination.
“The Board of Elections cannot vote to add a candidate to the ballot, or add a candidate to the ballot after the Supervisor of Elections disqualifies said candidate,” attorney Brooke Rutherford said in a memorandum submitted on Fawkes’ behalf.
On Monday the Justice Department filed a Notice of Limited Appearance for Assistant Attorney General Christopher Timmons. If the court grants its approval Timmons will serve the board by challenging Fawkes’ jurisdiction and by opposing the motion for the restraining order.
Attorney General Gordon Rhea filed the notice in response to a request submitted last week by Board Chairwoman Alecia Wells.
If Fawkes’ motion survives the jurisdictional challenge, the next likely step will be a hearing before Judge Yvette Ross-Edwards in the Superior Court of St. Croix. No scheduled hearings have appeared on the court docket so far.
